


An Appreciation for Poetry

by IronWoman359



Series: Sanders Sides Platonic Week [5]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Twenty One Pilots Reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 07:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16677157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IronWoman359/pseuds/IronWoman359
Summary: When Logan needs to concentrate, he asks to borrow Virgil’s headphones, and subsequently discovers a new appreciation for the music that his friend enjoys.





	An Appreciation for Poetry

Logan buried his nose deep into his book, attempting to concentrate fully on the words on page. Unfortunately, that was almost impossible to do when Roman was insisting on singing along  _very_ loudly with the soundtrack of  _Tangled,_  which he and Patton had picked to be the first in what Logan could only assume to be a long line of Disney movies. 

He sighed, and marked his spot in his book before closing it and getting to his feet. 

“Oooh! Dibs on the recliner!” Roman cried, spotting Logan’s movements. 

“Take my seat, and you won’t live to regret it,” Logan said without looking back at the Prince as he headed up the stairs. 

“Logan!” Patton’s protest was drowned out by Roman’s laughter, and Logan hid a smirk as their voices faded behind him. 

He continued walking through the upstairs, until he reached the last door in the hallway. Virgil’s room. Logan knocked exactly twice, and after a moment a muffled “C’mon in” came from the other side of the door. 

Logan stepped into Virgil’s room, pausing for a moment to adjust to the heightened level of anxiety that flared up in his chest. Once he had acclimated, he continued onward, closing the door behind him. 

Virgil was sprawled out on his bed, doodling something in his sketchbook, his large headphones covering his ears. He smiled up at Logan as he entered, and pulled the headphones down around his neck. 

“What’s up, Lo?” 

“I need a favor, Virgil.” 

The anxious side immediately sat up, scanning Logan’s face. The logical trait did not often admit that he needed help, but if he did, Virgil was likely the only one he would tell. Virgil’s mind instantly started racing, imagining all sorts of things that might be troubling his friend, and trying to come up with a counter to any of them…before Logan continued, 

“Could I please borrow your headphones?” 

Virgil breathed a sigh of relief, the tension that had been building in his shoulders and chest evaporating in an instant. 

“Jeez Logan, don’t ask me open ended questions like that,” he said with a nervous chuckle. 

“Ah, my apologies,” Logan hurriedly offered. “I didn’t mean to cause you distress, I suppose I should have realized that you might easily jump to conclusions at that phrasing-” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Virgil said with a wave of his hand, cutting off Logan’s rambling. He eyed the logical side curiously. “Though I’ve gotta say, now I’m curious.” He fingered the headphones around his neck, tilting his head thoughtfully. “What do you want them for?” 

Logan sighed and folded his arms. 

“I am attempting to read downstairs, and there are…distractions.” 

Virgil laughed at the grimace on Logan’s face, nodding in understanding. 

“Roman or Patton this time?” 

“Both,” Logan sighed, sitting down on the bed next to Virgil, leaning up against the wall. 

“Can’t relax?” Virgil asked sympathetically, angling himself to face Logan. The logical side merely nodded, running a hand through his hair. 

“In an attempt to listen to you and Patton on the matter, I have finished with my tasks for the evening. I am not allowing myself to do anymore work until I’ve had a good night’s rest.” 

Virgil nodded, glad that Logan was finally listening to their advice. 

“But?” he prompted when Logan fell silent. 

“But it seems that I have gotten too deep into my habit of overworking myself, because now my brain does not know what to do with itself. I can’t just stop thinking about things, I need something to  _concentrate_  on. And I can’t  _concentrate_ downstairs if Roman and Patton insist on having a modern disney movie marathon and singing along to  _all_ the songs on the soundtrack! But I can’t  _relax_  in  _my_  room, it’s too…. ** _me._** ” 

“Easy.” Virgil’s voice was firm, bringing Logan back out of his spiraling thoughts. “Well, I’d offer you to stay in here, but…” Virgil frowned as he noted the tinge of eyeshadow starting to show under the logical trait’s eyes. “I don’t think that’s the best idea,” he finished. Logan just nodded, not saying anything. Virgil tutted at him and slipped his headphones off from around his neck. 

“Here. Take them. And if you want my advice for something to play while you read? Imogen Heap, [Speak for Yourself Deluxe Version](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Falbum%2F2bZSWe30RAb7kapyQ1aWbW&t=MGNhMzA2YmQ1ZjNkNDBkZGE0ODBmZTkxMmJmMmRhZDQ1MjFkOWUzNCxxQUlPOFp5Mg%3D%3D&b=t%3AW-E5Coh64UHv3olklfVzMw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fironwoman359.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F170256984883%2Fan-appreciation-for-poetry&m=1), side two. Maybe cover up some of that Disney noise.” 

Logan nodded gratefully, taking the headphones and heading back downstairs. Once he was settled back into the recliner with his book, he opened up spotify, and before he could even search for the album Virgil had mentioned, he saw that Virgil had already shared the playlist with him. Logan smiled, and settled the large headphones over his ears. Already, most of the noise coming from the room was blocked out, and when he started up the music, awareness of what Roman and Patton were doing disappeared almost completely. 

_“I see why Virgil enjoys these,_ ” he thought 

Logan opened his book again and settled in to read. Finally, with all the distractions gone, he was able to fully immerse himself in his book. He sat unmoving for hours, barely noticing when the others changed their movie or went to get snacks. The soothing instrumental music floating over him, and Logan had to admit that Virgil had been spot on in his recommendation. Logan usually didn’t listen to music, preferring the lilting rhythms of a podcast to serve as his white noise. But it was difficult to read while listening to that sort of content, so he usually accomplished the task in silence. But these tracks somehow managed to have the perfect level of stimulation, while also not becoming distracting. Before he knew it, he had finished the book; the first time he’d finished a book just for himself in a long time. 

He glanced up to see Roman and Patton in the middle of choosing their third movie. Or was it their fourth? He’d begun to lose track. He stretched, and pulled the headphones off of his ears. 

“-Zootopia doesn’t even have any songs!” Roman was in the middle of protesting. 

“It has Try Everything! Besides, the last two were both princess movies, and-” 

“What’s wrong with princess movies?!?” 

“ _Nothing_ , Kiddo, I just think cute talking animals deserve some love too!” 

“Who said I don’t love Zootopia? I just love Moana more…” 

The rest of their conversation faded away as Logan rolled his eyes and sunk directly out of the living room, reappearing back in front of Virgil’s door. He raised his hand to knock, but paused, cocking his head to listen to the sounds wafting from the anxious side’s room. Virgil was playing his music very loudly through a set of speakers, and Logan couldn’t help but be impressed by what he was hearing. 

__[Hope you’re dead ‘cause how could you sleep at a time like this?](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Ftrack%2F4Oyl6oYSNeeZZP0OAxPVaU&t=NmQ4OTgyNGU2NTU3NDgzNGM5NjdiY2Y1YTg4NTM2Nzg0NjZkM2YzNixxQUlPOFp5Mg%3D%3D&b=t%3AW-E5Coh64UHv3olklfVzMw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fironwoman359.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F170256984883%2Fan-appreciation-for-poetry&m=1)  
People they rhyme like this, we’re all impressed by this  
They rip it, flip it but these are just triplets  
Wrote this in three minutes, three words to a line  
It’s just poetry divided, I’m the kind of guy  
Who takes every moment, he knows he can fight it  
And music to use it, for others to use it  
You’re dead 'cause how could you sleep at a time like this?

Logan swore that the singer had rapped the entire verse in one breath, save the last line, and he was captivated. While he had an appreciation for the talent it took to successfully perform rap, he did not listen to the genre itself very often, not caring for the content of the lyrics in most instances. This though, this was something different. 

_Life is up here but you comment below_  
When the comments will always become common motivation  
To promote you choose next episode  
So your brain knows to keep going even though hope  
Is far from this moment but you would not know it  
Gets better when morning finally rears its head  
Together we’ll lose this, remember the future  
Remember that morning is when night is dead.   


Logan might have stood there through the whole song, transfixed by what he was hearing, had at that moment Virgil not turned down the volume and called through the door. 

“I can see the shadow in the doorframe, you may as well come in instead of just hovering outside.” 

Slightly embarrassed, Logan pushed open the door and stepped inside. Virgil was staring at him with a quizzical look on his face, his head tilted slightly to the side. The artist was singing now, but even when singing it was hard to shake the notion that he was reciting a poem, albeit with a slight lilt to his voice. 

“Here, I appreciate you loaning these to me,” Logan said, holding out Virgil’s headphones to him. “They were most helpful.” 

“Ok…” Virgil said slowly as he took the headphones back. “Don’t know why returning my headphones would make you falter at the door. Trying to decide whether or not to knock is usually my bit.”

“Ah, yes. I apologize, I was just…well, listening to your music,” Logan admitted. “I found it…rather interesting.”

Virgil looked surprised, and rightfully so. 

“I honestly didn’t peg you for a Twenty One Pilots guy.” 

“Twenty One? That’s a rather unreasonable number of pilots, at most a craft needs three, though most suffice with only two-” 

“It’s just the band name, Logan,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes. “It’s a reference to some guy who sold a bunch of faulty plane parts in World War II, and twenty one pilots died as a result.” 

“Ah, as discussed in the play All my Sons, by Arthur Miller.” 

“Yeah, I guess.” Virgil shrugged. “Still, I’m surprised you liked it. Figured I’d be the only guy to like the emo scene around here.” 

Logan shrugged. 

“It’s…poetic.” He cocked his head, listening to the song as it still played quietly in the background. 

_Release me from the present_   
_I’m obsessing, all these questions_   
_Why I’m in denial_   
_That they tried this suicidal session_   
_Please use discretion_   
_When you’re messing with the message man_   
_These lyrics aren’t for everyone_   
_Only few understand._

“What is this song called?” 

“Message Man. It’s from their most recent album.” 

“I see…” Logan trailed off, listening to the rest of the song in silence, Virgil watching him with a slightly amused expression on his face. “Their lyrical wordplay is quite impressive.” 

Virgil broke out into a grin at that, and he pulled out his phone. 

“Oh, you don’t know the  _half_ of it, Logan.” He patted the bed next to him and Logan sat, peering over to see the phone screen. 

“Ok, this one’s one of my favorite of theirs,” Virgil began, clicking on a song called  _Doubt._

The two of them stayed like that for ages, Virgil picking new songs for them, scribbling something in his sketchbook while they played as Logan looked up the lyrics to each song on his phone. Eventually, Virgil stopped bothering to pick a new song each time, and just left his favorite playlist on shuffle, leaning against Logan’s shoulder and closing his eyes. Logan tried to keep up with the playlist, but there were so many songs on it, and Virgil’s body pressed against his was warm and comforting and Logan was so so tired…

Patton had to keep himself from squealing when he found the two of them the next morning, leaning against one another fast asleep, music softly drifting from Virgil’s phone. 


End file.
